Followers

Thursday, September 11, 2008

1949 to 2008 to be free is to exercise your vote

Back in time. Minneapolis Minnesota. A church publication headlines "John M making good in USA" reprinted in St Louis MO in a brochure put out by the company by whom I was employed.

" History is replete with evidence of man's search for a free, perfect union. It is an unfortunate truth that we do not learn the full value of something until we have lost it, that we take things for granted. We can see all around us today that uppermost in the minds of subjected peoples is the problem of how to secure freedom. Should not the uppermost thought in our minds be to retain the liberties and independence that we have?

Freedom is not a permanent gift. The Constitution guarantees our liberties, not as a free gift but as one constitutionally earned. It requires something from us in return. It is, for example, not only our right and privilege but our duty to exercise the power to vote. We must continually earn this freedom; it can be taken away more easily than we think.

As Socrates said " The difference between man and animals is man's capacity to develop political conscience. Individual political consciences make for free individuals. A state is only as free as its people" "

2008 An Election year.

We still, unfortunatally, have not accomplished much political savvy since 1948; less than 40% of all Americans go to the voting booths, and the rest complain of bad goverment, or keep voting for the same representatives over and over again, and keep complaining over and over again.